Totally ot: nice places to visit in UK?

[Kazzia]

London is definitely not representative of England as a country - although it's definitely worth a visit (2 days or so should be suffice). London is full of great places to eat but if you are looking for an example of British food (which gets an unfairly bad press) then there are plenty of pubs aimed at tourists in London you MUST avoid, where the food is awful. I work pretty much in between Westminster and Buckingham Palace and the place is littered with pubs selling bad food, all on the tourist walking routes. All the professionals who work in the area eat and drink at different places. London is definitely expensive but for 1-2 nights it's worth splashing out a little bit for a decent hotel.

Other cities worth visiting are Bath, Oxford, Cambridge and York (I'm only mentioning ones I've actually been to here). Stratford Upon Avon is a must for any fans of Shakespeare!

Please try the counties Cornwall, Devon and Dorset if you want to get the best of British coastline and beaches. Purbeck in Dorset on a warm summer day is perfect...I grew up in Cornwall so obviously I'm biased! You would ideally need to hire a car though to properly explore the South West of England as the public transport is infrequent and slow. Also, a top castle to visit is actually in Dorset, it's called Corfe Castle. Also, further along the coast towards Southampton is the New Forest, which is wonderful!

It depends on where you decide to go if you need hotel advice, but I also advise self-catering accommodation as it's cheaper than hotels and it puts you in charge of buying and preparing some of your meals. Only the other weekend I hired out a 600-year old cottage with friends in Oxfordshire.

I only really know the South of England - others on here will know the North better - plus there will be other experts on here with a view to Wales and Scotland.

Suffolk and Norfolk are nice and rural but the landscape is very flat, but that has its good points for some activities. As a horse obsessive the town of Newmarket is the best place in Suffolk for me - it's actually designed for (race)horses - definitely a unique place.

Like any country, England has its high and low points, but I always advise anyone visiting to go off the beaten track a little bit and only dip in and out of tourist hotspots. There is a LOT of history and culture to explore. I have friends from America who often ask where to go when they're popping over. In any case, best of luck with your English trip!

[Maddie-_-]

I wrote this long paragraph but it wouldnt send, anyways, SUSSEX! its really fun and there are lots of activities, themearks near-by and castles. 1-hour to london by train, but there are other VERY english places like country clubs and other snooty places Not that uk is really like that but its fun to see what we have that america doesnt, when I visited the US i almost fainted when I saw a yellow school bus! Wherever you go, ebjoy it! BTW, holiday inn is cheap and decent